Exclusive: now I will tell you how that story about Paris Jackson spending time with Debbie Rowe, her biological mother, came to be in the press. But first: I can tell you it’s true, and not only that: Paris has asked if she could spend time at Rowe’s horse ranch, according to my sources. I was actually told that Paris asked Debbie if she could live there. Rowe has spent time with Paris recently, and went to her 15th birthday party this week in Calabasas.

How did TMZ get the story they ran? Because I called a mutual acquaintance to confirm the story. And the person I called immediately called in to TMZ with my story. I hope there was some goo remuneration from TMZ. But lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.

TMZ is of course wrong about many things. In 2005, Debbie Rowe’s parental rights to her children, Prince and Paris, were reaffirmed. She went to court and a judge ruled that a parent never gives up parental rights. There had been a question about that since 2001. But at that point Michael Jackson was on trial, bills were not being paid, he was behind in owed amounts to Rowe.

From the time Michael Jackson died in June 2009, Rowe was clear that she would step in with both Prince and Paris if she were needed. She and Katherine Jackson had many cordial conversations about her role in the kids’ lives. Remember: Rowe is their only biological parent. And always was.

It makes sense that Paris would reach out to her mother. Her grandmother is 82 years old. Her aunts– Michael’s sisters–want nothing to do with her. Except for LaToya, who wants to guide her career for commissions.

And Paris is a lot like Debbie Rowe: she’s forthright, she tells it like it is, she’s funny. While she may have been raised very well by Michael Jackson, Paris must certainly be curious about her beginnings and identity. Debbie Rowe could be a great influence on her daughter’s life.

So that’s the story so far. I learned a lesson, and that’s always important. And two of Michael Jackson’s kids may have a chance to be close to an existing, living parent.

From June 2012: Our story, now making its way around the web like it’s news. It ain’t. We broke this ten months ago. Of course, the people who picked this story up like it was new didn’t even know the name of the movie. My friends, when you’re publishing, try and Google first to see if the story already exists. Bleh. http://www.showbiz411.com/2012/06/21/barbra-streisand-to-direct-first-film-in-16-years-with-colin-firth-and-cate-blanchett

Exclusive: Although it’s been alluded to, here’s the real story about Barbra Streisand’s return to directing. She’s agreed to direct “Skinny and Cat,” an epic love story about writer Erskine Caldwell and photojournalist Margaret Bourke White. Colin Firth and Cate Blanchett are officially attached, and Linda Yellen is producing from a script she wrote. Streisand is said to be very excited. Lynn Kressell is casting. The film will be independently financed, with CAA putting together the package.

The film has a go date for January 2013. Streisand last directed “The Mirror Has Two Faces” in 1996. It’s high time she was back behind the camera. There’s a reason Streisand was chosen to give Kathryn Bigelow her directing Oscar for “The Hurt Locker” a couple of years ago. That’s because Barbra early bucked a system that resisted female directors. But once she caused a stir with “Yentl,” in 1983, the doors opened for Penny Marshall, Amy Heckerling, Nora Ephron, Betty Thomas, Susan Seidelman and all the ladies who followed them. Producer Yellen is a good partner for Streisand: she has a long string of quality credits including the landmark television movie, “Playing for Time.”

Streisand has a full plate this fall. While preparing for “Skinny and Cat” she has those dates at Brooklyn’s new Barclay Center, already sold out. And she stars with Seth Rogen in “The Guilt Trip” coming out for Christmas. There’s also talk of recording a duets album. And she still has “Gypsy” on her docket. Nothing like staying busy!

The Chicago Sun Times reports the passing of Roger Ebert at age 70. It was just in the last two days that Ebert announced his cancer had returned and that he was giving up many of his responsibilities. He’d suffered since having part of his jaw removed in 2006. Ebert could no longer speak, and had turned over a lot of his leg work to his indomitable and wonderful wife, Chaz. It seems unusually cruel that both he and his longtime partner Gene Siskel were taken at early ages. Ebert was a favorite among Hollywood stars and directors. His reviews were unusually fair and incredibly generous (although not always, but mostly). He was not part of the print Pauline Kael clique of film critics, but he voiced popular opinion and championed indie films and smaller projects. His tenacity and courage in the last few years was remarkable for someone who was so ill.

Two thumbs up for Siskel and Ebert. They were classy guys.

Here’s the link to the Sun Times. Condolences to Chaz and his family: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/17320958-418/roger-ebert-dies-at-70-after-battle-with-cancer.html

Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation of “The Great Gatsby’ is coming at last– first to open here in early May, then play opening night at the Cannes Film Festival. It looks from this trailer like a souvenir 3D pop up postcard of New York. The controversy will be about the soundtrack–it’s very modern, with Beyonce singing Amy Winehouse, and that sort of thing. Are we ready for that? Why not? This will either be great or it will be “Lost Horizon.” Anyway, Warner Bros, has loads of blockbusters this year. They can withstand anything.

Where is Kim Basinger? Does she know what’s going on here in New York? Her 17 year old daughter with Alec Baldwin, Ireland, is the wild child of the week. Today she launched her modeling career, so to speak, in the New York Post. Not Vogue or Elle. But the Post, the paper Baldwin hates the most, fights with constantly. Where he was once dubbed The Bloviator. Where he took swings at their photographers. A paper he regularly lambastes.

And it’s not like Ireland cut a deal where the story would just be about modeling. Oh no. The Post ran at least two sidebars dissing Alec, just for good measure. They rehashed the incident in which he called Ireland “a thoughtless rude pig” on the phone several years ago. What a birthday gift!  He turned 55 two days ago. He’s expecting a new baby this year with his 27 year old wife, Hilaria.

It was six years ago. He said: “You are a rude, thoughtless little pig. You don’t have the brains or the decency as a human being. I don’t give a damn that you’re 12 years old, or 11 years old, or that you’re a child, or that your mother is a thoughtless pain in the ass who doesn’t care about what you do as far as I’m concerned.”

Maybe she’s getting back at him now.

Meanwhile, Ireland is also advertising her affair on Twitter with a 19 year old surfer dude named Slate Trout. Yes, I can’t make up that name. If she married him, she’d be Ireland Trout. Like Scotch Salmon. Something like that. Shouldn’t this girl be in school?

Meanwhile, Alec is on Broadway in “Orphans.” And he seems to have adopted brother Stephen’s religious awakening. This is what Alec wrote on Easter Sunday on Twitter. No one said parenting would be easy. Baldwin will need good prayer access to get through Ireland’s rebellious period, that’s for sure:

Happy Easter to all.The teachings of Christ are a blessing in my life.

— ABFoundation (@ABFalecbaldwin) March 31, 2013

Among music show singing contests, “American Idol” is now the underdog. Last night “Idol” scored a new Wednesday low with a 3.0 in the key demos and and a paltry 11.48 million viewers total. That’s down 6 percent from last Wednesday’s 6.2 It doesn’t bode well for tonight either, as every Thursday shows a marked drop from the preceding night.

Last Wednesday they had 12.33 million viewers– where did a million people go?

What is going on? I watched “Idol” last night and it is frightfully boring. The contestants are talented but dull. The judges are straining for new things to say them besides “you’re great.” In fact last night Nicki Minaj did say something to Candice Glover like “What am I going to say to for six more weeks?” Ouch.

Meanwhile on NBC, “The Voice” shows lots of life. It’s fun. They hit a nice 4.0 on Monday night, and they’re averaging around 13 million viewers. Considering that there’s nothing else happening on NBC, that’s pretty good.

By the way during that 9 to 10pm hour, “Idol” really got slaughtered by “Modern Family” and “Criminal Minds.” They really need a surprise, or a change up. They need someone besides Jimmy Iovine to come in and shake up the table. Or throw a curve ball and bring back a popular player who was axed. Ah, for the days of Simon and Paula.

Now that Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon are representing a new generation in late night, what happens next? David Letterman’s contract with CBS ends in 2014, same as Leno. And while we all love Dave and can’t imagine life without him and Paul Shaffer. But all good things come to an end. And given Dave’s age–and the drive for a youthful look–Letterman’s time may be coming to an end.

A TV insider points out that Jon Stewart, the long time host of “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, is more than ready for his close up. There was some suggestion last week that Stephen Colbert might be a Letterman successor. But Stewart launched Colbert, is senior to him, and in line first certainly for Letterman’s seat. Also of note: Comedy Central is owned by Viacom, which also owns CBS. and Stewart’s contract is with Viacom, which bought out AOL Time Warner’s half of Comedy Central in 2009.

flashback: http://www.showbiz411.com/2013/03/22/if-jay-leno-is-out-lorne-michaels-would-have-snl-tonight-and-late-night-with-seth-meyers

Stewart may well be aware that something is in the air for him. He’s planning on taking a 12 week break this summer to direct his first feature film. This will give Comedy Central a chance to find a replacement for him, and design a farewell to Stewart with an easy transition.

Age is also an issue. Stewart is 50 years old, which would make him a decade older than Fallon and Kimmel. But he’s also 15 years younger than Letterman and a dozen years younger than Leno. And at 50, he’s more than ready for his shining moment on the big network. He would bring the considerable  “The Daily Show” audience with him, plus the allegiance of many celebrities who adore him. Imagine a three way network contest in September 2014 of Stewart-Fallon-Kimmel. Audiences will get no sleep!

If Letterman can make it to September 2014, of which there is no doubt, he will have beaten Leno as a late night host. And unlike Leno, who will make a deal with someone else almost immediately, Letterman can take his time, do what I’d call a “Seinfeld,” and wait for the next right opportunity.

What’s clear is that no one is safe as we watch a generational change in talk show hosts.

NBC anointed Jimmy Fallon as host of the “Tonight” today, replacing Jay Leno even though he’s number 1 in the time slot. The change came two weeks after NBC declared war on Leno, and Leno fired back in daily monologues. On Monday, the network released a video of Fallon and Leno singing “Tonight” to each other from “West Side Story.”

Clearly, weekend negotiations had brought the whole mess to a conclusion. Leno isn’t even waiting until the end of his contract in September 2014. In February, before the Winter Olympics air on NBC, Leno will bow out. When the Olympics are over, Fallon will appear at 11:35pm live from New York, not Hollywood.

This afternoon everyone is quoting from a cheery press release of harmony. Interestingly, NBC completely skips over the eight months in which Conan O’Brien had the job. He been deleted, Soviet style, from the history of “Tonight.” So has Leno’s debacle of a show at 10pm, and the payout to O’Brien of around $50 million. O’Brien just renewed his own contract with TBS for his 11pm late night show, which is going strong.

Leno is making jokes now about returning to stand up comedy, or working in his garage. (He’s famously a car collector.) But don’t be fooled. Leno will be back on the air by September 2014, whether it’s with Fox or a cable channel, or in syndication. The latter choice may be more difficult since there are others who’ve gotten deals with local stations. But Jay Leno’s advisors will figure it out. He carries with him the largest late night audience.

And what of Fallon? I’ve always said he reminded me of Steve Allen and Jack Paar rolled into one. His show is sophisticated, fun, and young. Coming from New York, with Lorne Michaels producing, and with the “Saturday Night Live” synergy, the “Tonight” show with Jimmy Fallon is going to be a big success and a pleasure to watch. The one person who will find it a headache will be David Letterman. Competition for booking guests will be as intense as it is between “Today” and “Good Morning America.”